In honor of Seu Jorge's show this coming Monday...

I decided to post some MP3s of his music. It's been too long since I was this excited for a Brazilian singer coming to perform in NYC. The last one that really got me worked up was João Gilberto last year, as I'd missed out on him previously and he's getting pretty old. (I've gotten superstitious about trying to see older performers while they're still alive and well, because I once saw Baden Powell just a month before he died. And while he looked rather fragile climbing up onto Blue Note's little stage, his fingers were still as nimble as they'd been 50 years before. I never would have guessed that he would die so soon, though his years of alcoholism had aged him terribly.)

I'm always happy when my beloved Caetano swings by, but as he does that fairly often, and as I've seen him four or five times by now, the initial thrill has worn off a bit.

But with Seu Jorge, there's the added frisson that he's never performed in NYC before, and well, he's HOTT. Damn. If you'd like further proof besides the photo at right, please rent City of God if you haven't already, watch him as Knockout Ned (Mané Galinha) and see if you can resist. Even in the silly red hat he wears in Life Aquatic, there's something appealing about him, though they don't give him anything to say (he just sings his Bowie covers). Seems to me that Wes Anderson didn't really know what to do with Seu besides the songs, but those covers alone made the film worth watching (or should I say listening to). Just to get to hear him sing intermittently throughout the film kept me glued to my seat, despite the glacial pace of the film.

Click to download "Rebel Rebel" (Life Aquatic soundtrack)
Click to download "Convite para Vida" (City of God soundtrack)